Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) (33 page)

Several
sections of the wall suddenly exploded and collapsed. Swarms of the
arachnid-shaped Zaltule began pouring through, overrunning the first line of
defense.

On Ryan’s
command suit’s HUD, he saw numerous green icons begin turning amber and then
red.

“We can’t hold
them,” called out Lieutenant Guthrie from the midst of a group of Zaltule her
Marines were battling. “There’s too many of them! If we stay here, we’re going
to be cut to pieces.”

“Pull back to
the second defensive line,” Colonel Nelson’s calm voice came over the command
channel. “The hover tanks will lay down covering fire.”

“Pull back,”
ordered Ryan, as he heard the other commanding officers repeat the order.

“Damn, there
are spiders everywhere!” called out Alexander. “Where’s the exterminator when
you need one?”

“We’re the
exterminators!” replied Lauren as she cleaved another Zaltule in two who was
trying to pull her down. She untangled herself from his clutches and began
backing away. She sheathed her Energy Lance and grabbed her RG rifle. Lauren
began firing into the horde of Zaltule, who were pouring over the now nearly
demolished blastcrete wall.

“We’re firing
explosive rounds,” called out Sergeant McElroy from where he and his Marines
were supporting forty hover tanks in the third and final defensive line.

As Ryan pulled
back, he saw the area between the first defensive line and the blown airlock
hatch suddenly erupt in explosions as the hover tanks’ explosive rounds landed.
Fire and smoke erupted, concealing much of the area around the airlock.

“How many
Zaltule are we facing?” asked Lieutenant Guthrie as she pulled back toward the
next defensive line. She was still heavily engaged with the Zaltule. Some were
still mixed in with her Marines in hand-to-hand combat.

“Over a
thousand,” Captain Stern’s voice came over the Command Channel. “Those damn
little shuttles of theirs are also armed with small energy canons. They’ve
managed to take out a number of our static defenses and they’re also using
energy cannons to take down our blastcrete barriers.”

Ryan knew they
were getting themselves into a bad situation. Looking toward the shattered
airlock, he saw more of the small shuttles entering.

-

Colonel Nelson
was studying the current tactical situation. It was growing more apparent with
every passing minute that they weren’t going to be able to hold the bay. A loud
and violent explosion nearly knocked him off his feet. Looking to his left, he
saw the last assault ship had been taken out.

Calling up a
different screen on his HUD, he was dismayed at how many green icons were now
glowing a steady red. He knew all the Zaltule were in Type Three battlesuits
equipped with RG rifles, energy cannons, and explosive rounds. They also knew
how to use them as they had been trained as warriors their entire lives.

“We need to
withdraw to Smithfield,” Major Jeffries said over the private channel he had
with Wade. “If we stay in the spacedock much longer we’re going to be overrun.”

Wade looked
out over the raging battle. Explosive rounds, energy cannons, and RG rounds
were flying everywhere. Most of the embattled Marines had made it back to the
second line of defense, but already the Zaltule were beginning to penetrate it
in several locations. This was the first time the Marines had ever fought
against so many Zaltule and Wade was beginning to see why they were so feared
as warriors.

“Major
Jeffries right,” General Will Bailey’s voice came over the command link. “Pull
back to Smithfield and blow the connecting tunnels. That will at least buy us
some time.”

Wade took in a
deep breath. He knew that General Bailey and Major Jeffries were speaking the
truth. The battle here was lost; there were just too many Zaltule.

Activating the
general communication frequency, he gave his next order. “All Marines, pull
back to Smithfield. We’ll blow the tunnels connecting the habitat to the
spacedock in an attempt to slow down the Zaltule advance.”

“Wade, if we
don’t attempt to delay the Zaltule, many of our Marines won’t make it out,”
said Major Jeffries. “They’ll be overrun before they can get to the airlocks.”

“What are you
suggesting?”

“I’ll fight a
delaying action with the Hover tanks to cover the withdrawal. When everyone has
gotten out, I’ll pull out with the tank crews.”

“Do it,”
ordered Wade, knowing it would save lives. “Just be damn careful. I want to see
you in Smithfield when this is over.” He had already lost too many friends in
this war; he wasn’t ready to lose more.

-

For the next
few minutes, the surviving Marines headed for and entered the small airlocks
that led to the connecting tunnels to Smithfield. They were just large enough
to accommodate a Marine in a Type Three battlesuit.

Major Jeffries
gradually pulled the hover tanks back toward the airlocks with Sergeant McElroy’s
Marines providing cover fire. The Zaltule must have realized what was happening
as a new and larger shuttle began entering the spacedock through the shattered
airlock. These shuttles were armed with more powerful energy cannons and
instantly began targeting the hover tanks. Tank after tank blew up in fiery
explosions, often killing some of the nearby Marines that were supposed to be
protecting them.

Major Jeffries
estimated there were still well over one thousand surviving Zaltule inside the
spacedock even after all of their losses. He didn’t know how many hundreds lay
dead across the bay. Most of the surviving Marines had reached the airlocks and
vanished through the hatches. “It’s our turn now,” he said over his comm
channel. “All tank crews get out and let’s exit this place.”

The three-man
crews hurriedly crawled out of their tanks and began running toward the nearest
airlock hatch. The Zaltule must have realized what was happening as they began
targeting the airlocks with their energy cannons. Major Jeffries was almost to
an airlock when a Zaltule energy beam hit it, collapsing the tunnel and sealing
the Marines with him inside the spacedock.

“Damn,” said
Sergeant McElroy as he gazed in horror at the ruined airlock. He turned toward
Major Jeffries, who was standing next to him. “Now what?”

Major Jeffries
took a deep breath and drew his Energy Lance. “Now we fight and take as many of
these damn spiders as we can with us.” Jeffries knew he wasn’t going to be able
to keep his promise to Wade.

Sergeant McElroy
nodded. They weren’t getting out of this situation alive. “Let’s go, Marines!”
he yelled, gesturing to the survivors of the four platoons he had been
commanding.

The surviving
Marines with Major Jeffries and Sergeant McElroy in the lead charged the
nearing horde of Zaltule warriors.

-

Wade reached Smithfield with his surviving Marines and began rapidly to deploy them. There were also
reinforcements waiting for them as another six hundred Marines in Type Three
battlesuits had been held back in Smithfield just in case the battle in the
spacedock was lost.

After the last
Marine had exited the tunnels, Wade stared for several long moments before he
finally accepted Major Jeffries wasn’t coming. With an icy chill running down
his back, he gave the necessary order. “Blow the connecting tunnels.”

Moments later
fire and smoke erupted from the tunnels, sealing the habitat off from the
spacedock.

Stepping back,
Wade wondered how long the collapsed tunnels would hold back the Zaltule. He
had no doubt that at some point the Zaltule were going to break through.

-

Ryan gazed at
his HUD dismally, seeing how few green icons remained. He had lost nearly half
of his Marines in the battle. From the report he had just received from Wade,
Sergeant McElroy and all of his Marines had failed to make it out of the
spacedock. Ryan hoped the sergeant had taken a hell of a lot of Zaltule with
him. He also saw that Private Camden Richards and Corporal Mary Hatterson had
been lost as well. Mary had been very close to Casey for years.

“We’re to pull
back to the middle of Smithfield,” Lieutenant Guthrie said as she walked over
to Ryan. Her battlesuit was covered in blood from using her Energy Lance
against the Zaltule.

Ryan nodded.
He had just received those orders also. Gathering his Marines, they began
heading toward the city. Wade wanted them to set up a crossfire in the city’s
main intersection. Blastcrete walls had been constructed in a number of streets
to provide cover for the defending Marines.

A number of
platoons under the command of Captain Stern and Lieutenant Guthrie were
remaining behind to attack the Zaltule as they exited the connecting tunnels. 
They were waiting behind a number of thick blastcrete walls that had been built
for just that purpose.

“Mary’s gone,”
Casey said over the private channel she had with Ryan. “I saw it happen and
there was nothing I could do. She got cut off from the rest of us and was
killed before I could send help.”

“A lot of
Marines died today,” replied Ryan, feeling Casey’s pain. “There will probably
be more if the Zaltule make it into Smithfield.”

Casey didn’t
reply. She knew if the Zaltule made it into Smithfield, the Marines would have
a hard time holding the large habitat. If the Zaltule took Smithfield, then
there would be nothing left to prevent them from reaching the other habitats.

-

Time passed
and occasionally Wade could feel the ground shake slightly. He suspected this
was probably from the surface battle and antimatter missiles detonating upon
the energy shields of the ten defensive weapon sites.

“Colonel
Nelson, this is General Bailey. We’ve been detecting a series of explosions in
the tunnels connecting Smithfield with the spacedock. We believe the Zaltule
are blasting their way toward you.”

“We’ve got our
defenses set up,” Wade answered over the command channel. “We’re going to try
to hold them at the airlocks. I’ve also set up a second blocking force in Smithfield itself. If we’re defeated, we’ll pull back to the entrance to the next habitat
and make our final stand there.”

General Bailey
became strangely quiet and then his concerned voice returned. “Wade, our remote
sensors are detecting antimatter in one of the connecting tunnels between Smithfield and the spacedock.”

“Antimatter?”

“It’s a bomb!”
General Bailey said in a highly agitated voice.

“Crap,” Wade
said, realizing the significance. The Zaltule weren’t trying to get into Smithfield; they were going to destroy it. He instantly switched his comm to the general
frequency. “Everyone take cover immediately! We have reason to believe the
Zaltule are preparing to detonate an antimatter warhead inside one of the
tunnels. Take whatever shelter you can find!”

Marines
everywhere took off and ran toward the nearest shelters. There were a number of
shelters in Smithfield not in use by the civilians as they were too close to
the airlocks. The problem was that for many of the Marines, they might not be
able to reach the shelters in time.

-

Two minutes
later, a massive explosion shook Smithfield and the spacedock. The airlocks
into Smithfield blew open as superheated air vaporized the blockages and a
deadly burning blast wave swept toward the city. Buildings toppled and the
deadly heat caused fires to erupt. Trees were uprooted and the animals on the
outlying farms died almost instantly.

The city
erupted into a firestorm as numerous structures caught fire. Fortunately, the Smithfield habitat was protected by an energy shield to ensure the roof would never cave
in upon the city below. It was this shield which now held the damage to just
the habitat and didn’t allow it to spread to the others. The powerful shield
wavered but managed to hold.

The spacedock
was also heavily damaged. The construction berths and all the equipment in the
huge bay were destroyed in the backlash of the powerful blast. More fires broke
out and the power of the blast continued down the tunnel until it erupted from
the remains of the outer airlock doors.

The Zaltule
had withdrawn back to their ships to see the result of their use of an
antimatter bomb inside the asteroid. They had hoped the explosion would blow
the asteroid apart. It stayed together, but just barely. The energy shield in Smithfield and the blown open airlocks in the spacedock prevented the energy of the blast
from having its desired effect.

Inside Smithfield, the blast died down. The city itself was in shambles with most of its
buildings blown down and large fires raging. There was no movement of any kind
indicating anyone had survived.

General Alan
Mitchell shook his head in disbelief. The Zaltule had managed to blast their
way into the spacedock at Vesta. Not only that but they had driven Colonel Wade
Nelson’s Marines out of the spacedock and into the Smithfield habitat. Worse
yet was the news the Zaltule had set off an antimatter warhead close to Smithfield and effectively destroyed the habitat and the spacedock. Casualties to the
Marines had been heavy, and thus far, there had been no communication with
Colonel Nelson or any of the Marines inside the habitat since the antimatter
bomb detonated. From what General Bailey had reported, the conditions in Smithfield were so bad it would be hours before rescue teams could enter and begin sifting
through the rubble.

“What’s the
current status of Fleet Commander Achlyn’s fleet?”

“They’re moving
into combat range now,” Lieutenant Vail reported.

“Fleet
Commander Achlyn is hoping to pin the Zaltule battlecruisers between his force
and Vesta,” commented Colonel Robertson. “It will force the Zaltule to fight on
two fronts and might give him a slight tactical advantage.”

“He’ll need
that advantage against the Zaltule fleet,” Mitchell said as he shifted his gaze
to one of the tactical screens showing Fleet Commander Achlyn’s fleet emerging
from a dense area of the asteroid belt where they had been waiting with their
systems powered down.

“General
Bailey has confirmed two of his weapons sites have been destroyed and a third
has been heavily damaged,” reported Captain Jennifer Owens from Communications.
“He estimates in another forty minutes all the sites will have been
eliminated.”

Mitchell felt
grave concern after hearing the reports. The battle so far was going against
the defenders. First Mars, and now the grim news coming from Vesta.

“Zaltule
battlecruisers should be dropping out of Fold Space in twelve minutes,”
Lieutenant Vail reported as he watched the mass of red threat icons that were
rapidly nearing the Moon.

“General, what
about the weapon?” asked Marken. He was feeling great sadness knowing that
Colonel Wade Nelson may have perished at Vesta. He wondered how many others he
knew were missing as well. Wherever the Kleese went, they always brought death
and destruction.

“Have it on
standby,” Mitchell responded. He let out a deep and determined breath. “If we
have to use it to stop the Zaltule, we will even if it means we destroy the
Solar System in doing so. At least the Alliance will continue and there will be
some Human survivors with Alliance Fleet Admiral Rivers as well as the ships we
sent away.”

Marken nodded.
He knew if the weapon destroyed all life in the Solar System, his own people
would meet their final end. There were only a few Kiveans on the medical ship
Micene
and none in Admiral Rivers’ fleet. The few on the
Micene
would not be
enough to continue the Kivean race. Without hesitation, Marken contacted the
Human commander at the secret base on the Moon built to house the new weapon.
The weapon was a drastic redesign of one of the fleet’s current weapon systems.
It had been developed by the Kiveans along with the other alien races present
in the Solar System.

-

Fleet
Commander Achlyn looked at his ship’s tactical screen as his fleet left the
group of asteroids they had been hiding in and accelerated toward the Zaltule
fleet besieging Vesta. He had eight hundred and ten warships under his command
including sixty Delton heavy battlecruisers and three hundred and thirteen
regular battlecruisers. The rest of the ships in his fleet were support
vessels.

The core of
his fleet was built around the sixty Delton heavy battlecruisers, each of which
was twelve hundred meters in length and the most powerful vessels ever built in
the Alliance. They should easily be able to go heads up against a Zaltule
warship.

“Admiral Trest
of the Belen fleet and Admiral Hiath of the Bashan fleet both report ready for
combat,” Second Commander Baylith reported from his command station. “We’ll be
in combat range of the Zaltule battlecruisers in fourteen minutes.”

“Have they
detected our fleet?”

“Yes,”
answered Baylith, nodding his head. “The attack on the weapons sites on Vesta
have substantially decreased and it appears the Zaltule are attempting to
adjust their formation to meet our fleet.”

“Excellent,”
Achlyn said, pleased the Zaltule were reducing their targeting of the large
Human inhabited asteroid. “All ships, stand by to fire. Our first attack will
be a general assault on the nearer Zaltule battlecruisers with antimatter
missiles and then we’ll switch to multiple fleet units attacking individual
Zaltule ships.”

This was the
strategy the three fleet commanders had agreed upon. A general strike on the
entire Zaltule formation and then groups of four to ten ships targeting
individual Zaltule vessels. It was felt this tactic would allow for a greater
strategic success. Achlyn just hoped it worked. The lives of millions of people
in Vesta were relying on him being able to defeat this Zaltule warfleet.

-

Minor Overlord
Barral’s multifaceted eyes gazed unflinchingly at the ship’s large tactical
screen. It was showing over eight hundred red threat icons approaching his fleet.
They had been hiding in a region of dense asteroids and hadn’t been detected by
the fleet’s sensors until the vessels had powered up and began advancing.

“We have
detected Delton, Belen, and Bashan warships in that formation,” Falolt, the
ship’s second in command reported. He stomped his six feet upon the floor of
the deck as he looked up at Barral, who was on the Command Pedestal. “Of
concern are what appear to be sixty large Delton warships of twelve hundred
meters. These are obviously new constructions and may contain upgraded weapons
from the Alliance.”

“We shall
destroy them regardless,” Barral said confidently. “We are the Zaltule and are
supreme in battle. Our fleet vastly outnumbers theirs, and we shall annihilate
it. Once their fleet has been dealt with, we shall return to destroying this
planetoid the Humans are hiding in and then seek out the hiding places of the
Deltons, Belens, and the Bashan. I suspect they’re inside some of the nearby
asteroids this system has an abundance of. They shall die here as well as the
Humans.”

-

The Zaltule
fleet reversed its course and adjusted their formation into a solid wall of
battlecruisers. Even as they did so ion beams and particle weapons fire from
Vesta blew four more of their battlecruisers into twisted wreckage.

-

In
Centerpoint, General Mitchell watched the tactical screens in the large Command Center as Fleet Commander Achlyn’s combined fleet neared combat range of the
Zaltule. At the same time, enemy battlecruisers began dropping out of Fold
Space in close proximity to the Moon.

“Sixty
thousand kilometers,” Lieutenant Vail reported in a strained voice as hundreds
and then thousands of three-kilometer Zaltule warships exited Fold Space.
“Detecting energy shields coming online and weapons powering up.

“Now it’s
Fleet Admiral Kelly’s turn,” General Mitchell said as he looked at the large
group of friendly green icons representing the admiral’s fleet. The fleet was
in between Centerpoint and Freedom Stations. Already it was moving out to
intercept the Zaltule.

“The weapon is
nearly ready,” Marken said as he gazed at the massive Zaltule fleet showing on
multiple viewscreens. “It will take twelve minutes to activate once the order
has been given.”

“Let’s hope
that order isn’t necessary,” General Mitchell said.

Marken nodded.
He wished Harnett were here with him. She helped to keep him calm and if the
weapon inadvertently caused the destruction of the Solar System, the two of
them would die being separated by the vast distance of space between
Centerpoint and the Kivean asteroid.

-

Fleet Admiral
Kelly gazed intently at the tactical screen on the front wall of the Command Center of the heavy battlecruiser
Armageddon
. He had over five hundred
warships to hold back the Zaltule. Thirty heavy battlecruisers, sixty regular
battlecruisers, one hundred and forty-four light cruisers and three hundred
assault ships. With a deep sigh, he knew that wasn’t enough considering what
was waiting in front of them.

“Send in the
mine layers,” Kelly ordered. No one knew how successful this gambit would be.
Mines like these had never been used in the war before.

-

The six
special assault ships flew a parallel course between the two converging fleets.
From tubes in their hulls, small one-meter mines made out of a material that
should be immune to detection floated out. In a matter of a few minutes, thirty
thousand mines were quickly emplaced between the two fleets. Each mine
contained a twenty-megaton warhead and would detonate upon contact with a
Zaltule energy shield or hull.

-

“What are
those six assault ships doing?” demanded Military Overlord Harmock as he
watched the ships suspiciously on the tactical screen. He strongly suspected
the Humans might be setting another trap. At every turn, these Humans were
showing to be unpredictable in their strategies. Time after time, they were
showing themselves to be worthy adversaries.

“There’s
nothing appearing on the sensors,” Jalridd reported as he used the ship’s
powerful sensors to scan the six assault ships.

“Perhaps they
wanted a closer scan of our ships,” suggested Minor Overlord Gareth.

“No,” said
Harmock, shaking his triangular shaped head. “They’re up to something, but I
don’t understand what.” He folded his powerful arms across his chest and gazed
at the tactical screen as the six assault ships returned to the Human fleet.

“The Human
fleet has stopped its advance,” Jalridd reported.

“They’re
outside of our weapons engagement range,” Salten commented from his weapons
station. “We will need to move closer.”

Harmock nodded
his acceptance of having to close with the Human fleet. “In order to engage the
Humans, we’ll have to travel through the area of space those six assault ships
recently passed through.” Harmock spent a few moments trying to guess what the
Humans were up to. He finally settled on a strategy that would gain him some
insight. “We shall send one thousand of our ships toward the Humans. If there
is a trap waiting, those ships should spring it. If there is no trap, then the
entire fleet will move forward and destroy the Humans.”

-

Back at Vesta,
Fleet Commander Achlyn’s fleet had entered engagement range of the Zaltule. The
two fleets opened fire and antimatter explosions swept across the energy
screens of vessels in both fleets.

A Zaltule
pulse fusion beam smashed through the weakened energy screen of a
five-hundred-meter Bashan escort ship, opening up numerous compartments to
space. Energy beams cut into the hull of the vessel compromising the hull
integrity across a large area. Debris drifted away from the ship as the frantic
crew tried to close off the damaged compartments. Then a Zaltule antimatter
missile arrived, and the escort ship vanished as it was completely obliterated.

In the Zaltule
formation, the preliminary antimatter missile attack had lit up space
throughout the fleet formation. Then individual Zaltule battlecruisers came
under attack by groups of opposing warships. Ten plasma beams from the new and
larger Delton battlecruisers crashed through the energy screen of an enemy
battlecruiser, boring deeply into the hull. Moments later the ship exploded in
a fiery fireball, which quickly faded away, leaving only a few wisps of glowing
gas and spreading debris behind.

In both fleet
formations, ships were dying. The defense sites on Vesta were firing nonstop,
targeting the nearest Zaltule battlecruisers that were now at extreme range.
Over the course of twenty seconds, ten more enemy battlecruisers died.

-

Minor Overlord
Barral realized he had been trapped in between the planetoid with its dangerous
weapons and the incoming fleet. This was a situation easy to correct.

“Move us
further away from the asteroid,” he ordered. “We’ll eliminate the fleet first
and then return to finish the destruction of the Humans.”

Barral looked
sharply at Falolt as the
Conqueror’s Pride
shook violently and several
red lights appeared on the damage control board.

“Plasma beam
strike to the aft section,” Falolt reported. “Emergency bulkheads have sealed
off the damaged area and combat efficiency has not been affected. Our energy
shields are having difficulty stopping the plasma beams.”

Barral felt
enraged that his flagship had suffered damage. His multifaceted eyes turned red
in anger as he leaned forward and placed his two seven-digit hands upon the
control console in front of him. “Move the fleet forward!” he ordered. “We will
show these subservient races what it means to face the Zaltule in battle!”

-

Delton Fleet
Commander Achlyn felt his ship vibrate slightly from Zaltule pulse fusion beams
impacting the energy shield. He looked grimly at the tactical screen, noting he
was losing three ships to every Zaltule battlecruiser he was destroying. Many
of the losses belonged to the smaller support ships of the Belen and the Bashan. Looking at a viewscreen, he saw a Belen support ship explode in a blaze of light as
it was destroyed by Zaltule antimatter fire.

“We cannot
destroy this fleet,” Second Commander Baylith said, his eyes showing his
dismay. “It’s too powerful.”

Achlyn
accepted the truth of that statement. He had waited to attack with his fleet hoping
Vesta’s powerful defenses would be able to destroy or damage a significant
number of the Zaltule battlecruisers. While it had helped, it wasn’t going to
be enough. “Nevertheless, we will remain and fight until either by some miracle
we win or the Zaltule destroy us. We owe that to the Humans.”